Our Residents Need Your Help!

Dear Friends of Federation Housing,

Many of you have contacted us concerned about the adverse effects Federation Housing and its residents may be experiencing as a result of this latest government shut down. We sincerely appreciate your concern as we navigate this troubling situation and felt it was appropriate to share with you the challenges our residents face as a result.

Feeling the Impact – Nearly all of our 1,500 low-income residents receive some form of financial support from the United States Department of Agriculture in the form of “SNAP” Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. These benefits come in the form of monthly financial assistance which provides the recipient funds for much needed food and related sustenance items.

SNAP issued a statement on January 14, 2019 indicating that February's SNAP benefits will be issued early and that future benefits will be delayed if available at all. Due to this decision, SNAP recipients will not be able to get future SNAP benefits until sometime in March 2019, even later if the shut-down continues. While many of us are financially positioned to weather such a storm, our senior residents have low incomes, with an average income of just $12,500 per year, and are not so fortunate.

In response to this hardship, we are proposing the following assistance to our resident’s agency wide:

• Eliminate the $1.00 per meal participation cost to those residents who participate in the Senior Congregate Meal program who are currently receiving SNAP benefits.

• Reach out to all FH residents and offer enrollment in the Senior Congregate Meal Program to ensure all those who reside at a FH managed property do not go to bed hungry.

Offering this type of emergency support to our nearly 1,500 senior residents comes at a price to Federation Housing and that is where we could surely use your support.

Please consider donating to our Senior Congregate Meal program to help us offset some of our meal expense as we assist our residents in overcoming their daily struggle with food insecurity during these uncertain times.

On behalf of those we proudly serve, we thank you in advance for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Eric Naftulin Debbie Zlotnick

Executive Director Fundraising Manager